How the T could cram more people into trains: Ban messenger bags
By adamg - 12/6/08 - 6:09 pm
Miss Von Schtoop is getting very annoyed with lunkheads with messenger bags slung around their shoulders:
... The other day I was sitting next to a young woman who was in the aisle seat. First she got clocked under the chin by a dopey rider swinging an oversized tote under her arm. She then got a thwack on the back of the head from the same dopey rider who wanted to shift the bag to the other shoulder.
And the bag swinger knew she bonked the seated passenger because she then told her to "ooh, mind!" as if her massive tote was its own entity for which she wasn't responsible. ...
Comments
not as bad as the Special Snowflakes with bags on seats
I rode on the 39 once during rush-hour when a well-off woman with a fancy handbag plunked herself down on the front seat, and put her precious handbag and boutique shopping bag on the seat next to her. And left them there until we got to Boylston/Centre/S. Huntington, watching lots of people get on the bus...
I love people like that almost as much as the people who sit on the outside seat on the bus, when you say "please move in", instead turn and expect you to climb over them. One woman did it to someone trying to get off, and we had to wait for the lady she was trapping to finally give up saying "excuse me" and "please move, I can't get by you" and "I need to get off", and managed to climb/squeeze past her.
far worse: backpacks
There really should be a memo to local colleges and signs at all stops that remind the swarming masses of college age kids to take off their giant backpacks when they get on the T. At least messenger backs usually hang down at waist level. I can't even count the number of times a clueless college student listening to his ipod has abruptly turned around and clocked everyone around him with an overstuffed backpack. Simply taking the bag off and putting it by your feet for the duration of the ride opens up an amazing amount of space and doesn't piss off everyone around you every time you turn. I did it all the time when I used to take the #1 bus on my commute.
I have a better idea!
You know what would really help the T make more room and go faster? Getting rid of those pesky people with wheel chairs! I mean come on, it is 8 am, I am late for work, and they stop the train for 10 mins to crank that hand held forklift, then wheel someone up the ramp, then the T people stand around and shove other people off. Just because this person can't walk, why do I have to be late or stand in the cold? That is so unfair! Two fat asses from Somerville could squeeze into that wheelchair space.
Even better, how about no people with strollers, they take up lots of space too...needing people to help them up and down the steps. Don't get me started about people with their kids!!
In case you couldn't tell, I was being sarcastic you liberal nazis. Oh boo hoo, messaenger bags and backpacks, what part of PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION don't you understand? If you want to start a crusade, ban food because obviously someone is leaving their trash (or the metro, same thing) on the train.
You could always buy a car. Gas will be about $1.20 a gallon by January, and then no one will give a darn about hybrids or going green, because the only time people take notice of anything is when it endangers their WALLET.
I hear REI is having a sale on sarcasm meters
You might want to pick a couple up if you think I was serious about banning people with messenger bags.
That reminds me
Were you ever able to get those party jumpers out of your neighborhood so you and your college-going buddies could have crazy parties in Brookline without the police needing to show up?
The world isn't your oyster, Precious. The operative word in "public transportation" is "public", as in, make room and time for everyone...not every backpack. Those should be kept out of the way and, for certain, out of everyone's face and shoulders when you turn around.
PSAs
There are a few bits of subway etiquette that are far from common knowledge.
I'd love to see some of that ad space in cars allocated to PSAs.
How about have an ad creative team and a cartoonist or children's book illustrator do a series of posters on topics like blocking the doors, taking off your backpack, offering your seat, etc.?
This is hard to do right. There are a lot of negative perceptions of the T, and people don't want the T to further be an authoritarian overlord, issuing behavior directives to them.
Backpacks aren't the issue
A backpack on the back or slung on the side isn't a big problem. Its like #59 of possible issues on the T but people inflate them because they think its easily fixed. Only I'm willing to bet that if people took off their back packs to rest at their feet, there wouldn't be much more room opened up because the back page is not sitting on the ground like luggage. Also, those people are now probably going to stand in one spot and THAT is the bigger problem on the T. All the people that go one quarter of the way into a car and set up camp. That is infinitely more frustrating than someone aware of their surroundings with a modest bag slung to their shoulders. It also causes problems FAR more regularly than even a clueless person swinging a bag around, since they are so much more common. Instead of looking at what's on people's shoulders, look at their feet and see what they are blocking. That's the true hassle on the T.